London Bridge Attack

A white van mowed down pedestrians as it sped down London Bridge in the British capital on June 3, 2017, Saturday night, leaving bodies lying in the roadway, knocking people into the air, and forcing people to jump off the Bridge.

London attack latest, as of Sunday AM, June 4, 2017:

- Seven dead, 48 injured and taken to hospitals

- Incident declared as terrorism

- Three suspects shot dead

- Total dead is ten

"It looked to me that the van was aiming at the people," a witness tells CNN.

A witness reported the attackers screamed "This is for Allah."

Concurrently or shortly after the London Bridge incident on June 3, 2017, Saturday, three men entered a restaurant at Borough Market, just south of the Bridge, and stabbed four people inside. The patrons sheltered in the basement.

Both incidents have been declared terrorist incidents.

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On this night, June 3, 2017, the planet Jupiter is very apparent in the sky, only a few degrees from the Moon.

Sky & Telescope details what is happening with Jupiter tonight in these words:

Saturday, June 3
• Jupiter is the bright "star" with the Moon, as seen at right. They're only a couple degrees apart as viewed at dusk from North America. But Jupiter this evening is 1,860 times farther away.
• Lower left of them is Spica. Much closer to them in the opposite direction is fainter Gamma (γ) Virginis, a close double star for telescopes (separation 2.6 arcseconds this year).
• And, a double shadow-transit occurs on Jupiter tonight. From 10:22 p.m. to 12:22 a.m. EDT, both Io and larger Ganymede are casting their tiny black shadows onto Jupiter's face.
• And then, Jupiter's Great Red Spot transits the planet's central meridian around 12:55 a.m. EDT (9:55 p.m. PDT). Quite a telescopic night for this little group of objects.

Another Jupiter directly clashed with London Bridge. On June 13, 1984, as the HMS Jupiter was leaving the Pool of London after a visit to the capital, she collided with London Bridge causing significant damage to both ship and bridge. The ship's Captain, Commander Colin Hamilton, was later court martialed at Portsmouth on December 4, 1984.

London Bridge is usually rather calm. On February 28, 1992, a bomb exploded at London Bridge station injuring 29 people.

On June 3, 1982, the Israeli Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, Shlomo Argov, was shot outside the Dorchester Hotel by three gunmen from the Abu Nidal group. The ambassador survived a three-month coma, but was paralysed and required constant medical attention until his death in 2003 as a result of the wounds. See other "Terrorist Incidents in London" here.

The first bridge near this site was built in about AD 50, probably by the Romans. This version of the London Bridge was begun in 1971, and first opened on March 17 (Saint Patrick's Day), 1973, a little over 44 years ago.

The lyrics to a children's song, perhaps as old as the Late Middle Ages (circa A.D. 1301–1500), has made the London Bridge famous around the World.

London Bridge is falling down,

Falling down, falling down.

London Bridge is falling down,

My fair lady.

At top, an engraving by Claes Visscher showing Old London Bridge in 1616, with what is now Southwark Cathedral in the foreground. The spiked heads of executed criminals can be seen above the Southwark gatehouse.

Jupiter Ascending

February 6, 2015: Jupiter reaches opposition, meaning it's opposite to the sun in our sky. Therefore, Jupiter rises around the time the sun sets, shines highest about midnight and sets around sunrise. Opposition is also when Jupiter is closest to Earth for the year, appearing biggest and brightest. Look for it in the east as the blue sky darkens. When you face Jupiter, Venus is almost directly behind you.
How impressive is Jupiter this month? The giant world burns at magnitude minus 2.6, three times as bright as Sirius, the brightest star, which sparkles very far to Jupiter's right or lower right on February evenings. NBC News

Meanwhile, on the theater screens beginning February 6th...

Delayed from 2014....

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KC Chiefs Player Suicide at Arrowhead: Updates

Kassandra Perkins: The victim.

Jovan Belcher: The perpetrator

Brittni Glass: Another victim?

American professional suicides (see "NFL Suicides: 12 in 25 Years") are back in the news.

Following two violence incidents yesterday - one murder-suicide initially said to involve arrows in a location rich in Indian-soldier conflicts and another of a university football player being shot - a football player on an Indian-monikered NFL team killed himself at Arrowhead Stadium on the morning of December 1, 2012. 

In an apparent murder-suicide, a Kansas City Chiefs player shot himself in the head in front of his coaches at a team training facility after earlier shooting to death his girlfriend at her residence, police said.

Kansas City, Missouri, police spokesman Darin Snapp identified the player as linebacker Jovan Belcher, 25, who played football in college at the University of Maine.  Belcher, from West Babylon, New York, played at Maine from 2005-08. He graduated from Maine in December 2008 with a bachelor's degree in child development and family relations.

Jovan as a boy's name is of Latin origin. Variant of Jove, from Jupiter (Latin) "the supreme God." Jupiter was the supreme deity of Roman mythology, corresponding to the Greek Zeus.

The surname Belcher has its roots in medieval England, and, before that, in France. The name Belcher is composed of two syllables: Bel and cher. In Old French, Bel meant "beautiful or fine." The Middle English word cher (also derived from the Old French) meant an "an expression on the face"; in Middle English, this word was also spelled chere (as in Richard Belechere). A person's mood, especially gladness or joyfulness, as expressed on a person's countenance or face, was called chere orcher, the word we know today as cheer. Cheer denotes gladness or joy. Cheer was also spelled scher, shere, or chire (which is very similar to some of the variant spellings of siror sur, as in Belesur). When spelled cher or chere, the word also referred to good hospitality (such as one would find on the estate of a sir, knight, or gentleman). Thus, the Belcher name refers to a beautiful or fine expression on the face, hospitality, or, in summary, Bel = "good" + cher = "cheer."
Belcher took his life in the parking lot near Arrowhead Stadium as officers pulled up to park and saw him with a gun to his head talking to coaches. Before Belcher's suicide, the player was talking to Chiefs' general manager Scott Pioli, coach Romeo Crennel and an unnamed Chiefs staff member. Pioli and Crennel "never felt like they were in danger." Belcher, reportedly, thanked the general manager and coach for all they had done for him.

When officers arrived, the player walked away from the three Chiefs personnel and "a couple seconds later, they heard the gunshot," Snapp told reporters.

About 20 minutes prior to his suicide, the player shot his girlfriend in her nearby home, Snapp said. The NFL.com reported that Snapp said the mother described the relationship as "on-again, off-again."

The Kansas City Star, quoting an unidentified friend of Perkins, reported that Belcher confronted his girlfriend after she returned at about 1 a.m. following a Trey Songz concert. The couple had dated about three years and argued frequently recently.

The couple's daughter Zoey, born Sept. 11, 2012, is safe. The baby is in the care of Belcher's mother, who police said lived with the couple in their rented home.

Belcher was in his fourth year with the Chiefs after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Maine. He started 10 of the 11 games he had played this season, registering 38 tackles.

Other Kansas Chiefs players have experienced tragic deaths.

In February 2000, star linebacker Derrick Thomas of the Chiefs died from injuries sustained in an auto accident weeks earlier. Thomas was a Pro Bowler in nine of his 11 seasons with the Chiefs. In 2009, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In 1983, Kansas City running back Joe Delaney drowned while trying to rescue three children who were struggling in a pond in Monroe, Louisiana. Though an inexperienced swimmer, Delaney made the rescue attempt. Two of the children also drowned. Delaney was a Pro Bowler in his second season with the Chiefs in 1982.

Updates:

The Chiefs played at home against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday and had an emotional win.

More details are surfacing, including the "Belcher spent night with [Brittni Glass] before killing," and that "In college, Belcher punched out window over girl."

More has come out, as well, about Belcher's use of pain meds and drinking to deal with head injuries and behavior outbursts. His football organization, however, noted they did not feel there was any problem in this area. Kansas City Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt told the media that "Belcher 'Had Not Had A Long Concussion History'."

Of course, that begs the question, what kind of concussion history did he have? In college? In high school?

Concussions have been linked to suicides and murders of and by NFL players in recent years.

Another Obama Campaign-Related Death

There's been another campaign- or event-related death during President Barack Obama's travels. This time in Florida.

Let's quickly review the previous cases that stand out:

On April 16, 2009, Felipe Solis (= sun), a distinguished archaeologist, was with President Barack Obama at a gala dinner at the museum and showed Obama around the Mexico City's anthropology museum. Then, Solis died the next day from "flu-like symptoms."

On July 6, 2012, Ann Harris (= son ~ sun ~ of the home ruler), 70, owner of Ann's Place in Akron, Ohio, died hours after Obama made a surprise visit to her place for breakfast.

On July 13, 2012, Alex Okrent (= meaning?), a 29-year-old vet of two of Obama's earlier runs, died suddenly. He reportedly "collapsed" at Obama's Chicago campaign headquarters.

Now, on Sunday afternoon, September 9, 2012, a Jupiter, Florida, policer officer was killed when his motorcycle was hit while he rode along in President Obama's motorade. The cycle was struck by a pickup truck as it was escorting the motorcade enroute to the Palm Beach County Convention Center. The officer was preparing to shut down I-95 at the 45th Street exit when he was rammed by a white Ford F-150 pickup at 4:40 p.m. 

The dead motorcyclist was identified as Jupiter police officer Bruce St. Laurent, 55, (pictured above) a 20-year veteran of the force. (Laurent has its name origins in French, meaning "crowned with laurels," a tradition bestowed on heroes.)

Other motorcade officers' deaths:

On February 22, 2008, Hillary Clinton's motorcade involved a motorcycle crash that killed Senior Cpl. Victor Lozada-Tirado, 49, in Dallas, Texas. (Lozada = Spanish for exuberant and vibrant; Tirado = Spanish for stretched, someone with long legs.)

On August 27, 2007, Rio Rancho Officer Germaine Casey, 40, crashed his motorcycle while riding in a motorcade as President George Bush prepared to leave Albuquerque, New Mexico, following a fundraiser for Senator Pete Domenici. Casey's motorcycle hit a curb and then a tree. The motorcycle was near the front of the motorcade, and the president saw the wreck as he drove past on the way to the airport. Casey was a two-year veteran of the force, having worked for campus police before that. [Germaine = form of Germain, a borrowing from the French, that is from the Late Latin germānus (brother), which is derived from germen (a spout, a bud, embryo). Casey = Irish from Cayce, vigilant, brave, or watchful.]

On Sunday, November 26, 2006, a Honolulu police officer, Steve Favela (= diminutive of honeycomb, also bean), 30, an eight-year veteran of the force, died after a week in the hospital, following his motorcycle crashing while he was part of a President Bush's motorcade traveling across Hickam Air Force Base (above) .

In February 2006, a Bernalillo police officer was injured when his motorcycle went down while he was helping escort Bush's motorcade on Interstate 25. Sgt. Jerry Nixon (= son of Nick, son of Nicholas) suffered a broken nose, cuts and bruises.

Update: Please see Christopher Loring Knowles' September 8, 2012, Secret Sun essay, which is precognitive, in that it points to the hidden nature of Jupiter.